>> reporter: and we are back here live where you can see children are lined up, they are waiting to catch a look as -- we are told the cameras will start rolling, they will be transmitting images of the astroid throughout the space center. admission to the observatory is free we are told. reporting live i'm jodi hernandez, nbc bay area news. >> thanks, jodi. the meteorite sent patrolmen ors through the ground like an earthquake. those shakes were picked up, and it was indicating that the blast was on par with a magnitude 2.7 earthquake. the fact that it was recorded at all is unusual. they say few meteor explosions have been recorded. coming up on the nightly news, we will have the coverage of the meteor impact coming up at 5:30. >> we have no details on a story we brought you wednesday.

the santa clara man accused of making death threats against state senator leland yee is arrested and what was shocking what was found in his house. what did they find? >> reporter: they found evidence related to the threat, but they did not thankfully find any more explosives at the home. did he not enter a plea, he faces ten felonies, he is accused of making a death threat gently land yee regarding the gun control efforts. the 45-year-old man shuffled into the courtroom wearing ankle chains and handcuffs. he appeared very timid. he faces a long list of charges. from making threats to making explosive devices. he is also accused of having several -- several is assault weapons and a long-range high-powered rifle found in his santa clara home.

>> he is charged with three assault weapons that are illegal. and in addition to that, he is charged with two counts of forgery of a government i.d. >> reporter: for the third full day, investigators scoured the home looking for evidence linking him to threats against senator yee and more explosives, they had already discovered a handful of useable sdruktive devices that the bomb squad detonated. if convicted of all ten felonies he will be sentenced to more than 12 years in prison. right now, he remains behind bars without bail and he is said to be back in court on february 21st to answer a plea to the charges. reporting live in santa clara. nbc bay area news. >> thank you, if you have been outside, it's a great day. this is a live picture of the east san jose foothills. sunny, beautiful and warm. in fact, a few bay area cities broke records today.

jeff ranieri is here to tell us which city was the hottest. >> good afternoon to you guys, not terribly disruptive outside. sunshine being enjoyed. and one of the warmest temperatures was near 80. that is unheard of this time of the year. gilroy topping out at 79, we could hit 80 if we warm up another degree in the next hour. san rafael 76. and one of the records so far, napa with 71. that is besting the old record. let's go outside to the live sky camera network. the other problem is the haze. we are at moderate levels of air quality and pollen in the high category. it has been enjoyable and a lot of you are suffering from a headache, watry eyes and maybe coughing again with the poor air quality. we will get rainfall in here and we need it. look at this, 2013, the driest

on record for january and february for these cities. that first column, that is it, that is all you have had since january first with rain there in napa, less than 10% of the rain that you should have for this date now in february. so, we need the rain, we are going to get that coming up in the forecast and something else you guys to think about. it's just a few degrees. one of the warmest days in february. just goes to show you. how unusual it is to get the this time of weather this time of year. >> the weather is creating kenners for wine and grape categories. we sent a crew to the santa cruz mountains. the new vines have been planted. the weather is calm. but we did not get as much rain as expected this winter and that is threatening to accelerate the vine growing process. that means that things may start to grow earlier than expected.

>> most of the times when we have weather like this, the vines will bud out and then spring or winter will come back, and that will stall the growth of the vines and they kind of hang out in almost a form of is stasis and do not grow for a month. >> the risk is that we will see a smaller grape harvest the opposite of 2012, that means higher prices passed on to consumers. the good news is that it's far too early to say that it's going definitely happen. as jeff mentioned, we will be getting rain in the forecast. great news to bay area wine categories. if we get enough rain soon, the harvest will be back on track. >> get ready for lawsuits changes in passenger rights. more stories are coming out about the cruise in the gulf of mexico. getting off the carnival cruise ship was not the end of the nightmare for the passengers. one of the chartered buses carrying the passengers broke down. it was going from alabama to new orleans, riders were stuck for

another hour before a bus picked them up. and an engine fire left the ship stranded. it got towed to land last night. >> we are driving on the highway, the bus starts slowing down and the bus pulls over and just breaks down. how long were you stuck there. about an hour. >> he had a smile on his face, so many delays on land and at sea. carnival will refund everyone the cost of the cruise plus a free the ticket to another cruise and $500 in catch. some people say, that is not enough. >> an east bay family is mourning the loss of a teenager that was struck and killed in antioch. the girl was crossing the intersection of hillcrest avenue when she was hit. she was air lifted to the hospital and later died. the driver stayed at the scene and as of now, neither drugs nor chol played a factor in the crash. >> still ahead, new detail on

the case of an olympian accused of murdering his girlfriend. what the blade runner's family is saying about his involvement. >> and a viral video with the message of hope. what this berkley student is hoping his video will help accomplish for millions student. >> and facebook targeted by hackers. how it played out. >> and jeff ranieri, temperatures dropping off in the south by with upper 60s at the current moment and plenty of sunshine right now, 69 in san jose and 71 in sun -- in sunnyvale, i have full details coming up in minutes.

>> a story that broke, the

blimpan broke down several times in the courtroom, he is accused of shooting his girlfriend. a 30-year-old model, four times. the family is questioning the criminal charge against him. the statement said, the alleged murder is disputed in the strongest terms. he will be held at a police station until his bail hearing. the chandra levy murder case secrets may be over. partial transcripts will be released over the hearings. levy grew up in modesto. there was speculation that condit and levy had a romantic relationship. a man was convicted of killing

her almost solely on the testimony of an inform ant. >> the teachers and staff were honored today in an emotional white house ceremony. president obama awarded the citizen's medal. he recalled how each sacrifice, was to protect the students. >> they gave their lives to protect the children in their care. they gave all they had for the most innocent and helpless among us. that is what we honor today. >> the citizens medal is the second highest honor awarded by the white house. >> the autopsy results are in and investigators are now believing that the former l.a. cop kill said himself. the sheriff's department released that information at news conference late this afternoon. investigators say that christopher dorner died from a single gun shot wound to the

head. after a massive man hunt that led authorities to that cabin in big bear. he was barricaded in the cabin and refused to surrender. deputies say they were forced to deploy chemical agents into the cabin that caught on fire. >> as the fire continued to spread, it went about probably a quarter of the cabin, when it was on fire. we heard a single gun shot coming from the house. which is different than the shots that we heard when he was shooting at us. which indicated to me a different type of weapon was fired. >> the search for dorner began after he launched a revenge fueled rampage against the department. he is accused of killing four people, including two officers. >> the creators of a video from uc berkley hopes that it will go viral. to get his role had he to reveal that he is an undocumented

immigrant. he uses a piece of chalk and his math skills to compare the cost of dee portation and the value that immigrants would contribute as citizens. it is to promote the dream act. he was just accepted to a master's program at yale. >> if the dream act doesn't pass by the time he graduates. he will no choice to take a job where someone pays him under the table. >> which means the president of the berkley math club will be doing some hard manual labor. >> the dream act would open the path to citizenship for park and 2 million other young people brought to the u.s. as children. >> was facebook hacked? the social network said that a hacking group was able to install software on a number of employee laptops. there's no evidence that user data was compromised. but attacks happened last month

when employees visited a mobile website that was compromised. >> the computers have been cleaned and an investigation is ongoing. >> how about this, nickels and dimes add up. a half a million in change. tha is what was left in the airport last year. that is about a $45,000 increase from 210. a spokes person from the tsa say they try to reunite passengers with the money. if not, they get to keep the change. >> palo alto high school can be getting an upgrade thanks to a donation. an offer has been made to foot the bill upgrade the facility. the school board said the donor is the parent of a student in the district. the new facilities would include two gyms, a wrestling room, dance studio, weight room and classrooms. if the school board approves the plan, construction could start as soon as may of next year. >> so do they just write a check

and drop it off? >> probably. what a nice donation that is. >> let's bring in chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. amazing on this friday. >> i'm accepting donations for the amazing weather, you guys. get the checkbooks out. yeah, it was awesome here today, a lot of sunshine, record setting heat, i know a lot of you are outside enjoying it, we do want the to start off and show you, how warm it is for this time of the year. heyward at 68, that is a new record. shaterring the old record of 62 set back in 2006. that is not the warmest. get a load of this. gilroy topping out at nearly 80 in the middle of february. that is unheard of. south san jose 75, and san francisco feeling the sizzle with 71 and napa at 71. we are going to undergo major changes through next week. take a look at this, from well above average weather today to well below average. 62 in gilroy and we are forecasting rain next week. you will like the seven-day

forecast. current temperatures holding on to warmth in the north bay. upper 60s and a few low 70s. warmer spots, sfe in gilroy and 71? sunnyvale, let's go outside, we will give you a bit of a tour with all the great weather down here in san jose, we do have the moderate air quality and high levels of pollen making it diflth if you are out there enjoying the sunshine. let's go up off to the north and you see in meoryville, as the sun selts it looks like a summer day with clear skies. the air is stale. now let's go back to the weather pattern. we are going to undergo changes as early as this weekend. high pressure brought us a record setting unusual heat. 10 to 15 degrees above average. pushing to the south. saturday and sunday, not going to be as warm as today. it would have been nice if it lined up with the weekend. not how it's going to work.

the jet stream will push to the south for a colder storm next week. that is what will flip the switch and get us rainfall in the forecast. for tomorrow, fog at the coast line, 50s and 60s, plenty of sunshine throughout the afternoon and temperatures will be in 60s, but we will hold on the a few 70s and what you will notice, by sunday, temperatures will be dropping 5-8 degrees cooler. if you suffer from allergies, not going to get better. moderate to high on this board here. everything, pretty much blooming at this point, what we need is rain to clear it out and once again, we have it in our seven-day forecast. otherwise, starting off at 35, and 40 in liver more and 44 in san jose. for tomorrow on your saturday r tgif, if you have not heard it already today, i'm happy it's friday. we have 71 in san jose, and 72 in palo alto. back for the east bay, a mix

of -- we will get that gradual increase in cloud cover throughout saturday night and lingering into sunday. we have 69 in san francisco, and 70 in santa rosa and 67 in bodega bay. clouds increase sunday and then on monday, one of the cloudiest days we will have seen in a while. by tuesday, here it comes. the storm system with a chance of thunderstorms in the mix. it will get active quickly and temperatures going from the upper 70s today to 53 by tuesday chance of rain on wednesday and so far it's looking good to tee up rain for thursday and friday. but, once again, that first storm day will be on tuesday. a stark contrast. >> the summer is coming to an end. >> put the shorts away. and find the jacket. >> you are welcome. >> coming up, they got a lot of things but not this item. now a big box store is facing a lawsuit over counterfeit jewelry. >> plus new findings for women trying to get pregnant using fertility treatment.

>> in health matters women who get fertility treatments are not at an increased risk of cancer. it can involve ovulation stimulation, and it was suspected that the procedures increase risk in cancer. but not so. a new study reveals little connection. experts say it's hard to know whether unmeasured factors not related to ivf itself can effect cancer in women who have trouble conceiving. the flu may be over. it's continuing to decline throughout the country. 31 states are now reporting widespread flu activity is dropping off. southeastern states are doing the best, and while states in the west and northeast have a high flu level. >> a high end jeweller versus a

big box store. tiffany and company is suing costco for selling counterfeit jewelry. people bought engagement rings that they thought were authentic tiffany products. and they did not. wow. >> i know. >> we are back in a moment, stay with us.

let the feathers fly. we showed you last night, the annual event is all about having fun, but the cleanup lasts a lot longer. crews had to work overnight, sweeping up all those feathers and we just got an update, the

clean up costs $5,000. now, you may think that is a lot. but it's not as bad. 2010. $16,000. maybe next year. everyone can clean up after themselves. that would be hard. >> bring a few dollars to donate. very, very thoughtful. spread the love. we are starting a three-day weekend. three days. >> okay. okay. but a lot of people. i can say, it's nice, it's nice. three day weekend, invest sun -- we have sunny skies. and by monday, cloudy conditions and our next chance of showers and temperatures in the 50s by next tuesday. much needed rain making it our way. so, i hope you go outside and enjoy some of the warmth. 79 in gilroy. unreal. >> thanks for joining us here at 5:00, have a great weekend. see you later. good night.

on the broadcast tonight, fire in the sky. a massive meteor crashes to earth, 1,000 people injured in an explosion with the force of an atomic bomb. and it happened on the same day as another close encounter. the closest astroid we've ever seen. day in court. oscar pistorius breaks down as he hears the murder charge against him. we're there tonight. outrage for thousands of women who say they were raped. yet the evidence sat on a shelf for years. tonight, prosecutors fight to

bring them justice. and cruise control. one final nightmare for some of those passengers even after they got off the ship. and a warning tonight about the rights you give up when you get on board. "nightly news" begins now. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. >> good evening. i'm lester holt in tonight for brian. the sky is not falling, but you would be forgiven if the thought crossed your mind after two spectacular but apparently unrelated cosmic close encounters today within just hours of each other. this morning in a remote part of russia, some thought the world was ending when a ten-ton meteor, five stories tall, hurtled to earth and exploded, causing a lot of injuries and doing a lot of damage without actually hitting anything. its fiery descent was captured in vivid detail by numerous cameras.